Welcome to the Pond Boss Convention IV.

Folks just starting to roll in. More later.

Beautiful.

Last conference everything at Big Cedar was beautiful too. Even the skunks were cute.

The weather is incredible -- abolutely fantastic.

Oh, isn't this thread just a bundle of joy and great news for me!

You should be able to find Sunil quite easily

Get this folks. It truly is a wonderful pondboss family. When we walked into our private cabin there on the table was a box, with a baloon and card that read happy birthday. Inside the box was a birthday cake with my name on it. WOW!!!!

Me too!

Eric,

Is that road washed out or is that intentional?

Cecil it is a spring that runs across a stone road in a few places. This place is breath taking its like the Willie wonka choclate factory for outdoorsman/women.

I figured it had to be something like that. Thanks.

A great big recirculation system. Water pumped up from the lake and goes down the hills as falls and over stone road crossings.

Had about 30 at dinner at the Buzzard's Bar with live entertainment. I will let them chime in with details.

More pics

Rainman will roll in at around 4am...

This is torture.......and here sit in a boring mgt meeting. I look forward to more reports!

Fresh pictures - Almost "live" from the Buzzard Bar....



Earlier this afternoon...

82 F is a tad bit warm for us northern boys! Other than that, it's all good!

Seeing some old friends and the kid playing the fiddle has already made this conference worth it. Wish everyone was here to enjoy.

Todd...I heard the judge is keeping you away...shame. This stands to be the most fun ever. Alan Warren checked in about an hour ago. I grazed from Bings' and Susie Willis' plate. This event has started! Come on! Big times ahead.
News as it happens.


If you don't come to court, what happens?
Is it bad?

See ya'll some time this afternoon.

I appreciate the note, Bob, and sure wish I was in a different situation this week. Yeah, not showing up for court is a little problematic. Especially with Napoleonic judges. Ask Eric about the phrase "contempt of court!"

Just make sure those of us who can't make it are well informed so we can at least follow along while we not tied up.

Hope you all have an absolutely wonderful time!

Hey Todd, can't you sue for pain and suffering.

This would actually have to fall more along the lines of emotional distress, mental anguish, and diminished capacity for enjoyment of life!

Dave Beasley, Matt Rayl, Bill Cody and myself are at Atlanta airport now debating whether or not it's 5PM somewhere in the world while it's only 8:45AM here.

Of course it is. Why would you even debate this issue?

Tehran, Kabul, Karachi, Tashkent, and Islamabad are all major cities currently in the 5:00 p.m. hour. Celebrate away, my friends! Just nine minutes away or so from the 5:00 hour you'll find Moscow and Dubai. Surely, that's enough empirical evidence to get you in the direction you obviously want to go!

Frankly, I'm working the crowd here. You have to soft-sell it to some of these lightweights...you know, make it seem like it's their idea to have a beer or cocktail. I know my time zones very well.

We spent the afternoon at the pool. Fifteen of us altogether (we always travel in a herd). Gonna start tracking down some folks here in a few minutes.....

Forgive me. I know full well that you are an International Man of Mystery and are equally adept and at home in Kuala Lumpur as you are in Atlanta. I should have paid closer attention to your post. I am humbled.

Enjoying the Conference vicariously through this thread is a bare substitute for being there.

Can someone ask Sunil what time the bar opens today so we outlanders can join in the fun? I don't really need to ask but do so in deference to Sunil the honorable Conference Beer Magistrate (life long post, like a supreme court justice).

The Icebreaker starts at 6 today...people are flowing in. Fishing tournament is happening. Someone should call Bruce's cell and see how he's doing. 22 anglers out on the water, weigh-in at 5.

Downloading photos...will upload soon...depending if I get called away...

The bar is ALWAYS open.

This morning's sessions were outstanding. It was a "Pro-Series"....



Alan Warren is here...

















Fishing tournament take-off...

The tour bus...



Sunil, being prepped by Alan Warren, for video footage. Not sure how we'll use this footage, but Alan has some great ideas.

Set up has started !!

Damn! I feel the excitement right through the computer! Seriously. I may just have to attend a PB Conference one year, and I don't even own a pond (yet). Wife wants to go to Big Cedar anyways. I may just take her and say, "Oh, by the way,.....PB conference is there to!"

Anybody manning the website or you mods all walking around with a beer or mixed drink in your hand?

We've got a spammer/scammer on the site that has a link for pond supplies. Phone number of 123-456-7890! Obviously there is no such number.


Jackcool1 is listed in the UK but his website is not in the UK. (He attached a link to his post).

I reported to the mods hours ago. No response. I'd hate to see someone pay with a cc and get taken.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=254934#Post254934



PUT THE DRINK DOWN!

Cecil -- I did see most of the moderators in the last hour or so. Actually, all looked quite busy. I'm sure one of them will be around soon.

Sunil and I went down to the marina for the fishing contest weigh-in. As we were heading down the pier we ran across one of the contestants who was coming up the pier. He did provide us with a Condello Moment.

Pics from this afternoon....




And tonight ..... Hail & tornado warnings
Many attendees are still "HUNKERED DOWN" in the Buzzard's Lounge - ostensibly for their own safety...

Pre-opening pics

Judging by the last pic, the mods must be hard at work out answering questions.. (or sleeping off hangovers).

More pics



















Mods are here just busy


Hi Everyone from Sue Cruz ~ we're having the best time, wish you were here!!!

Hey Guys, check with Eric at moderator booth for Mrs. G’s $Gill flies - donations to SDSU Jesse West scholarship foundation!
Here’s a photo of a $Gill fly if you look closely from fishin’ yesterday …
Y’all have fun – wish I were there.

SDSU cap and Mrs.G's $Gill fly ...

More pics

Here is a sample !!!! George and Brandon (with TFO) did these.

Pictures from Sue Cruz.

Tough night last night boys?? Blame the Aussie with a camera!

From DD1.

Ya oughta be here.

Obviously some deep thinking going on there.

Anybody see Scot (Esshup)? Hopefully he made it.

He's sitting right next to me. Want to tell him anything???

Yeah tell 'em to stay out of trouble and don't hang with bad influences like Bill Cody.

Just kidding of course.

I was concerned he didn't make it as I hadn't seen him in any of the pictures.

More pics

I'm learning from Brettski.

Dinner was great. I was able to steal a book at the silent auction and had it autographed by one of the authors (Dave Willis). Thanks Dave!

For all of you who haven't made it to a conference, don't make that mistake the next time it rolls around. It's amazing!

Alan Warren - Banquet Keynote Speaker


Fishing Tourney Winners

Uh oh!

Sunil won the "entrepreneurship" award for his skills at turning t-shirts and SDSU ball caps into donations for the Jesse West endowment. By the end of it, he also had Chris Steelman trained into a lean, mean, entrepneurial machine, too. Folks, this has been a darn good meeting! Lots of information exchange. I learned more about bobwhite quail status from one speaker than I learned from talking with a lot of wildlife biologists over the years.

Hey George,

I think we got over $110 for your Mrs G's $Gill flies yesterday at the silent auction.

Young Blood and I's greatest moment was when we decided to post ourselves at the front of the lunch line to sell shirts and hats. The beauty of it was the perceived guilt factor to be "that" person who would not buy a hat or shirt when the person in front of them just did.

At any time that we felt the need, we told some folks that their money was no good unless the bill had "5" and a "0" on it.

What we're working on now is selling Young Blood himself. DJT's wife, Ingrid, has a niece who's single. We're waiting for some pictures as Ingrid has already texted a photo of YB to the girl.

I envy people that could sell ice to an eskimo!

Thanks Chris - good news - worked my fingers to the bone ...
Hope the folks tnat bought them know the story of Theo's naming contest that Eric won, named Mrs. G's $Gill and won 2 flies.
I ended up giving each contestant a Mrs.G $Gill fly.

Enjoy - they ain't no mo!!!
Vision impairment after retina surgery followed by catarac surgery left me with double vision.
I tied those flies from memory!!!!

Over $5700 was raised from the auction, Catmandoo's pastrami, shirts, and hats.

Sounds like everyone had a good time and it was very informational.

Way to go All.

Maybe I can attend next time. Sure looks like a great time!

Hows IT going?

Flies brought in more than that as some were paired with the TFO rods and some with PB shrits and SDSU Fisheries hats.

TFO rods brought in a bunch.

Lots of good stuff from the vendors.

Stats, is that you John???

Good bye, Big Cedar!!!

From ESSHUP: Dinner was great. I was able to steal a book at the silent auction and had it autographed by one of the authors (Dave Willis). Thanks Dave!

For all of you who haven't made it to a conference, don't make that mistake the next time it rolls around. It's amazing!


You've got it wrong, Scott!! Thank you!!

I've got to say, I'm exceptionally proud of the Pond Boss team, our hosts at Big Cedar Lodge, the vendors, the speakers and everyone who attended this event.
It was a great success and, true to form, the Pond Boss family was intact and in wonderful form, loving on each other, intermingling, meeting and getting to know each other.
Just before the program started, Dave Sefton, from Brownstown, Illinois, had a great idea. He said, "We always start of church by taking a minute and welcoming everyone. Why don't we do that here?"
I thought it was a great idea and the Pond Boss faithful enjoyed it as well.
I'll have a few more photos to share.
One other thing...if you read this and you don't subscribe to the magazine, go ahead and pull the trigger, now. This next issue will have a full two-page spread of conference photos, plus a $10 coupon for Purina fish food. This is the first time Purina has offered it and they've issued it for a one-time opportunity. Subscribe by Wednesday, as that's when the magazine will be finished printing and ready to ship.

There will be more reports when people get home and online.

Instead of extending this thread with lots of additional photos (mostly of scenery, since the property is so awesome), I set up a Shutterfly site that now holds several of my compressed pictures from the conference. I didn't take very many photos of people (my 17 yr-old daughter says that practice makes me a "creeper"). Oh well, I'm sure EWest took plenty of individual and group-photos - and NO, he's not a creeper.
EDIT: I added to the Shutterfly site all of the pics that EWest has posted thus far.
Other conference attendees are welcome to add their photos to the Shutterfly site if desired. Just click on the image-link below to access the site and follow the directions.
BTW: I really enjoyed seeing many old friends and meeting a ton of new friends.
Bob, thanks for the nudge... Fully worth the trip.

Thanks Kelly - great job and many thanks for the help ! Go look at these guys - Kelly takes great pics. Me - not so great.

If you didn’t make the conference, you better have had a really good excuse. I had the greatest time and learned even more than I thought I would and my expectations were already high.

I was immensely humbled to meet many great people for the first time. The Boss himself, Mike Otto, Bill Cody, Eric West, Sunil, Nate Herman, Dave Davidson, Sue Cruz, Chris Steelman, Greg Grimes, Blaine and Blair (they’re not the same guys!), and many, many more, including great vendors. You don’t quite realize how great a resource the forum is until you jump in and experience it. Same thing with the conference. If you own a pond, just as the forum is a necessity, so is the conference. The passion and general good-heartedness in this industry is something unlike any other. I’m just a young guy with a little pond in Nebraska, yet guys like Otto and Cody took the time to speak with me. I could continue to ramble on, but I’ll stop and add that the only thing I could think to change about the conference is there wasn’t enough time to take it all in.

Nice pictures Kelly, I see you caught my best side in some of the pictures (the back of my head!). It was good to speak with you and Bill on my spatterdock problem, I'll double check my plant identification and get back with you on my progress. Thanks.

Bryan

Welcome home conventioneers. From this thread it looks like it was a great weekend.

+1

I was especially appreciative to benefit from conversations with Bill and Eric, and was able to corner Dave Willis for a spell, too. I'm glad to have met and spent time with Blaine and Blair, and spend some "off topic" time with Sunil and Sue. My only regret is the conference seems to pass so quickly - it's a difficult balance to find time to socialize with our PB brethren AND get myself in a position to benefit from all the speakers - I make this struggle conspicuous with my late arrivals each morning [afternoon]. Oh well, vacation is vacation!

This was only my second conference, but many more are already on my calendar. Somehow the conference improved over last year, and I didn't think it possible. Many thanks to Bob, Mike, the moderators and attendees - I miss all y'all already! Regional PB gatherings MUST happen this Summer! 18 months is too long to wait to see you all again.

Omaha the pleasure was ours. Each and every one of us started in the same place on this journey. TJ I hear you - me too.

Stick - more than great. It's like a reunion of long lost family. The Forum is great and so is a convention - but add the two together and the feeling is not easily described. There is a bond between us all. I wish I could do it justice in words but I have tried before and just can’t find the words to match the feeling -- but I can feel it reading Omaha and TJ's posts.

George - I bid four times on those flies and also the TFO fly rod/flies and lost both by LATE bidders. Grrrrr...I did end up spending some well deserved bucks on the Venison Pastrami and bid/won a couple of In-Fisherman hats...all for a great cause. Still...my Wipers wouldn't stand a chance with those flies of yours!

I figure I had better post some pictures of what I played a small part in making happen...the "hands on" demonstrations on the pond.

I wish I could take credit for getting the clouds to part and the temps to rise from 39* at 10am to a fabulous 68* at the time everyone left the conference hall to come pond side. Kudos to the Big Cedar Engineering and Landscaping crews..I would call, they would deliver whatever needed and if it didn't exist, they built it for me!

Here are several pics of the pond that don't do the vendors and participants justice!

Click the pic for the slide show...

TJ, I also did my best to get the flies and figured I had them up to a high enough point that nobody would mess with them. Heck, I think I came in 4th or lower.

That's OK, I still have 5 that George personally hand tied for me. Of course, there's no way I'm going to actually fish with them. One of them is mounted and framed.

Rex am I missing something - don't see a pic to click except for your signature photo...

Yep I tried to buy them as well. By the time I checked back the price had doubled.

Rex thanks for the pics. I did not get any there. The link worked for me.

Awesome pictures Rex, Thanks. And thanks for your help. And your right those maintenance guys were awesome.

TJ, I had to temporarily delete the original slideshow.....for some reason the original slide show only had the photos currently being shown when created, but scrolled through all photos in my photobucket account instead....Issue corrected!

Got it - thanks nice shots. The new aeration guys this year had some cool stuff going on down there. Chad that's an armful of Amur you have there ready to slappa yo face! Nicely handled...have you done that before?

After you've been slapped in the face a few times, you figure out how to handle that creature.

Kent's Waterpusher is pretty impressive. I had never seen one. Eric told me that they are usually built for a tractors PTO to be used in production ponds. Of course, that means that the tractor has to run full time. Kent's is electrical and he says is uses a couple of bucks per day of electricity. Way to go Kent!

Thanks guys, really wish I had been able to attend -sounds like a good time was had by all and most behaved nicely ...
Glad the flies brought big bucks at the auction - that was the only way I could paticipate.

Who won the spin/cast fly rod/reel combo?
Temple Fork Outfitters is a first class operaration and responded eagerly to my request for their donations - thanks to Brandon for his bass bugs - he's a top notch fly tyer!

The reason for my enphasis on the spin/cast rig is too encourage you guys to fly fish your ponds! This rig will handle UL spin casting like a dream and allow to switch to 4/5wt fly casting when needed.

Thanks to all for donating to a worthy cause.
George

Thanks again to you, George!!

The TFO fly rod, reel, and flies went for $195 to Heath Spence.

The TFO fly/spin combo went for $150 to Pat Miller.

Some of the Glazener flies were paired with Pond Boss IV long sleeve shirts. The main packet of Glazener flies went to Chris Steelman for $50. Chris was everywhere at this meeting, actually.

Fred Bingaman donated four very nice Shimano/G Loomis spinning rods and they all went between $70 and $80.

The conferrence was amazing! I can't put into words what a wonderful time we had. It was so neat meeting all of you whom we've talked to over the past year or so! Everyone was so friendly and welcoming. We met many of our friends and made many more! This was a trip to remember!

Thank you guys SO much! We're already looking forward to next time!
Stacy

Testimonies prove - people who do not attend the Pond Boss Conferences miss out on a really great two days of: Pond, Ponds, Ponds mixed with excellent information, friendships and memories!

Greetings from Great Exuma! Cody, I thought the conference was 3 days???!!!!

Well it depends ! 2 days of meetings (Fir & Sat) unless you went to the pro part then 2.5. If you count social then its may be 5 days for some.

Guys - if one also considers 'recovery time' then add several more days!
The after-glow may last for weeks.

Speaking of appropriate behavior...I am surprised [yet relieved] our unofficial Buzzard Lounge seminars weren't documented digitally. Truly groundbreaking stuff: Chad Fikes and I potentially solved world hunger; Blaine and Blair had some very progressive environmental initiatives to help curb air and water pollution; and Scotty, Sue and Sunil colaborated on an alternative energy theory I think could provide the world clean and renewable energy indefinitely.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to find my notes.

Just back from the conference. As a veterinarian I've had to attend many professional conferences over the years. None to date can match the Pond Boss Conference. The degree of professionalism, expertise, approachability, and air of comrodary was second to none. Every single person we encountered was full of warmth.

Thanks for a lifelong experience,
Steve, Stacy, and Larry
aka Stubby Steve's

Too bad the conference has ended. Y'all could have Googled "China's Amazing Bridges" to get an idea of what our tax dollars are doing and maybe have worked out a solution to that!!

What a great time we had! Time went to fast and as a vendor, simply no time to leave booth and visit. Wish we had even more time to spend. Can't wait till next year!!

I had an added bonus to the great conference of being able to pick up 22 of these new rollers for my dozer on the way home, only about 25 miles added to the trip. There are 6 that are brand new and the rest have very few hours. To be used to make better pond and upland habitat of course!:)

Yes finally a chance to post since the conference. As always it was incredible. Met some great folks and as always went too fast and did not get to talk to all past friends. Thanks again BOB for doing this. Not sure everyone understands the hours it takes to pull this off. Great job BOb I thought the format was the best yet. Im honored to be a part of it.

I was out bid at the last second but talked Armando into letting me pay at the acution for the new Third Edition Inland fFshery Management Book. I promptly had Doc Dave willis and Mr. Lusk sign the Chapter they wrote on pond management. Cherish thsi one.

If you missed my talk you missed my attempt at the Wr for the new baby. Wendy was not liking me taking the hanging baby pic.